After Tripura, Yogi confident of BJP's victory in Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday credited the BJP's "historic" performance in north eastern states to "development-oriented" policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "organisational skills" of Amit Shah and said the day is not far when one party will be in power right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. He also took the opportunity to slam the Congress, saying after Rahul Gandhi became its president, this is the fifth defeat for his party. "After Rahul Gandhi donned the mantle of Congress chief, this is the fifth defeat for his party and the pace of this record will gather speed in the near future," he said. The chief minister was addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here after the party's good show in assembly polls in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. He said that during the run up to the Gujarat Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi was coronated as Congress President and that time itself he had said that the development would make the BJP's job easier. "Under Rahul Gandhi's presidentship, the Congress has lost five states and when he was the party vice president, the Congress frittered away ten states," Adityanath said, noting that it was a matter of "happiness" for the saffron party. "The BJP's sterling performance in northeast will go a long way in fulfilling development aspirations of people," he said. Adityanath said for the first time after Independence, these northeastern states will get chance to join the national mainstream and enjoy fruits of development.

The UP chief minister, who had campaigned for the saffron party in these assembly elections, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development oriented policies and organisational skills of BJP President Amit Shah led to his party's "sterling performance". He said the 'lotus' will now bloom in Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and Odisha, thanks to the development-oriented policies of the prime minister and his good governance, and the guidance of the party chief Amit Shah. "That day is not far when one party will be in power right from Kashmir down to Kanyakumari," he said. After the outcome of assembly elections in the three northeastern states, the BJP is set to lead or be a partner in 21 of India's 31 state governments, underlining a saffron dominance of the national political map like no other time. Adityanath also exuded confidence that the BJP will win Lok Sabha by-elections next week in Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. He took potshots at arch rivals SP and BSP on reports that they might join hands to take on the BJP in the next week's Lok Sabha bye-elections in Phulpur and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. "Who doesn't know the guest house episode? Can one forget who had threatened to damage statues (of Dalit icons)," he said without elaborating. His reference was to an attack allegedly engineered by SP supporters on then chief minister and BSP supremo Mayawati in the Meerabai Road state guest house in the state capital over two decades back. On the possibility of SP-BSP coming together in the parliamentary bypolls, he described the two parties as "ker-ber" (banana and Indian plum) and asked as to whether the two different fruits could gel. Asked for which parties he used the expression "ker" and "ber", Adityanath smilingly said, "It's for you to judge." Continuing its winning streak, the BJP wrested Tripura, and received invitation to be part of the government in Nagaland, while Meghalaya elected a hung Assembly. The main opposition Congress is in power in only four states - its lowest-ever tally - and that include Mizoram and Puducherry.